Kierspe

Kierspe
Kierspe
Town
	Aerial view
	Coat of arms
	Location of Kierspe within Märkischer Kreis district
	Kierspe Kierspe
	Coordinates: 51°08′N 07°34′E / 51.133°N 7.567°E
Country	Germany
State	North Rhine-Westphalia
Admin. region	Arnsberg
District	Märkischer Kreis
Government
• Mayor (2020–25)	Olaf Stelse (Ind.)
Area
• Total	71.62 km2 (27.65 sq mi)
Highest elevation	552 m (1,811 ft)
Lowest elevation	280 m (920 ft)
Population (2023-12-31)
• Total	16,320
• Density	230/km2 (590/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC 01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC 02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes	58566
Dialling codes	02359 (Kierspe); 02269 (Rönsahl)
Vehicle registration	MK
Website	www.kierspe.de

Kierspe (German: [ˈkiːɐ̯spə] ^ⓘ) is a town in the district Märkischer Kreis, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located at the western edge of the Sauerland on Volme River.

History

The first mention of Kierspe was in 1003, when the castle 'Haus Rhade' was first mentioned in a manuscript. On this basis Kierspe celebrated its 1000th anniversary in 2003. Around 1490 Kierspe became the seat of the Heilige Feme, an independent jury of commoners with the right to mete out the death penalty. Such Feme juries were common in Westphalia at the time.

In 1968, as part of the reorganization of the former district Altena, the city of Kierspe was formed by merging the Amt of Kierspe with the municipality of Rönsahl. On 1 January 1969 Kierspe officially obtained city rights.

Coat of arms

The city's coat of arms was derived from the former coat of arms of the Amt. It combines symbols for both of the member municipalities - Kierspe and Rönsahl - separated by the red-white checkered bar of the counts of the Mark. On the bottom of the coat of arms is a red lion with blue claws and tongue, the symbol of the counts of Berg and taken from the coat of arms of Rönsahl. On the top is a Rauk, a raven. It refers to the nickname given to young recruits, who imitated the sound of the raven when first wearing their blue uniform during mustering. The coat of arms was granted to the Amt on 20 August 1936, and to the city on 29 July 1969. It was designed by Otto Hupp.

The coat of arms of the municipality Kierspe was similar to the one of the Amt, except the bottom was a blank yellow field. It was granted on 17 October 1935. The coat of arms of the municipality Rönsahl had Saint Servatius in the top, the patron saint of the church in Rönsahl.

Population development

Population development 1975-2012

Year	Inhabitants
1634	2.570
1875	3.513
1905	5.002
1925	6.432
1935	6.899
1950	9.946
1961	10.530
1970	13.500
1974	13.577
1980	14.436
1985	14.665
1990	16.257
1995	17.541
2000	18.353
2005	18.209
2010	17.270
2013	16.116

International relations

Kierspe has been twinned with the French town Montigny-le-Bretonneux since 1988. The partnership developed from a long-lasting student exchange of the Gesamtschule Kierspe with a high school in Montigny-le-Bretonneux.

The town is twinned with Denton, Greater Manchester, which is also twinned with Montigny-le-Bretonneux. A delegation from Denton arrived in April 2012 to discuss the twinning, which eventually took place in a ceremony in Denton on 22 September 2012. There was a large town festival including the planting of a German Linden tree in the town's park.

Connections with Britain

For a number of years the Gesamtschule Kierspe had an English Partnerschule in the form of St. Aidan's C of E High School in Harrogate, and exchanges would take place between British Year 10 pupils studying German and pupils at the Gesamtschule of a similar age. This came to an end in the last few years as St. Aidan's changed its system for teaching modern languages and eschewed the exchange link for a trip to the Rhineland for the Year 9 pupils. However, Year 12s from the school still go to Kierspe for two-week-long work experiences.

Notable people

Wilhelm Kattwinkel (1866-1935), neurologist and paleontologist
Roger Schmidt (born 1967), football coach

References

^ Wahlergebnisse in NRW Kommunalwahlen 2020, Land Nordrhein-Westfalen, accessed 21 June 2021.
^ "Bevölkerung der Gemeinden Nordrhein-Westfalens am 31. Dezember 2023 – Fortschreibung des Bevölkerungsstandes auf Basis des Zensus vom 9. Mai 2011" (in German). Landesbetrieb Information und Technik NRW. Retrieved 20 June 2024.

External links

Official website (in German)

[1] Wahlergebnisse in NRW Kommunalwahlen 2020, Land Nordrhein-Westfalen, accessed 21 June 2021.

[2] "Bevölkerung der Gemeinden Nordrhein-Westfalens am 31. Dezember 2023 – Fortschreibung des Bevölkerungsstandes auf Basis des Zensus vom 9. Mai 2011" (in German). Landesbetrieb Information und Technik NRW. Retrieved 20 June 2024.

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